My daughter will have a playhouse in the next several weeks. She chose a very English cottage look.
We grow all our veggies from seed and have for years, i thought it would be fun to grow some flowers from seed too. Oddly enough i have never grown flowers from seed, other than the sunflowers and morning glories the kids plant each year. I am looking for some ideas of some (easy to grow from seed) flowers to plant.
I would like to lean towards perennials and re-seeders. We are in zone 5-6 and the spot will receive full sun till about noon, then bright shade the rest of the day. We do have several flats of lupine and one of delphinium coming up right now. I also planted a flat of my favorite verbena, but haven't seen any sign of it yet...
I want to make this playhouse REALLY fabulous!
Thanks for any ideas,
Melissa
Landscaping a child's playhouse...
Hi Melissa,
My first thought would be zinnias and marigolds because they're easy but they are also annuals. Poppies, bachelor buttons, moss roses, snapdragons are annuals but they reseed and are fairly easy. Echinacea (coneflower) and Shasta daisies are perennials and easy to grow from seed. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head but I'm sure there are other DG'ers with a lot of good ideas. Good luck! It sounds like a fun project.
Tricia
LOL - zinnias and marigolds were at the top of my list! Blanketflowers also are fairly easy and pretty drought resistant- although I can't remember if they reseed or are perennial. Irises are neat if you want to venture into tubers, corms, etc. ... Don't forget how many of thousands of sunflower cultivars there are, too - short, tall, bush, multi-headed - I'm going for those outside of my horse pasture right now. Hope my horses don't eat 'em.
So, you gonna show us a picture? Do a 'before and after'?
Edited to add - Don't forget Cosmos! One of my faves - I love the finely cut foliage.
This message was edited Apr 11, 2007 11:03 AM
Absolutely. I'll post a pic of the spot it will go later this evening.
The playhouse will be built off site and moved here. Make-a-Wish is "building" it, "a playhouse I can get my wheelchair into" was my daughters wish.
The actual builders are developers here in Nevada. They are putting in several hundred homes down the road and it will be easier for them to build it there and move it here, they also thought it would be more of an impact for it to arrive complete instead of having to watch it go up little by little. I am planning to drive over there once it starts to take pictures of the progress though.
How cool is that!
So, yeah - you want tall things that she can see from her chair, too, huh? The cosmos and some strains of the zinnias - I'm thinking 'Cactus' variety - will be good for that.
Window boxes she could reach easily might be a good idea? She can mess with them all the time, and mints might be perfect. They'd be contained and not take over anything, they're perennial, and she could make tea with them. What's a cottage for, if not to take high tea of an afternoon?
But zinnias were my first thought, too.
I think the window boxes (the original raised beds) that she could plant from her chair, are a terrific idea. And, how about something like chocolate mint; it smells and tastes like a peppermint patty.
I'll go take pictures of mine and share.. Thorn less Climbing lady banks on three sides and I let grape tomatoes volunteers pop up around the supports of the railing.. I'll take pictures.
:)
Susan
We want pictures as soon as you can get them! tombaak, you have a whole lotta moms and grandmas chomping at the bit here!
She needs to get completely British on this one, and give it a name.
That's a fun idea!
What is your daughter's name?
Melissa, I cannot wait to see the photos when you get them.
Please tell me what your favorite verbena is. I've been planning to put some in this year, but I forgot to start any from seed. Although, it's been so cold this Spring that maybe I still have time. =)
Pagancat,
My daughter's name is Satori, and Wrightie, my favorite verbena is Verbena bonariensis.
Waiting for those pictures Susan :)
This is a picture of Satori last week on Easter.
WOW!! What a beauty!! :)
I'll take pictures today and post during daylight hours!! :)
Susan
What a beautiful girl and I love her name!
Tricia
She is a cutie and that hair...........millions of little (and big) girls would love to have that beautiful hair.
Tombaak, did you decide if mints would be a good thing? I have 'Kentucky Colonel' spearmint and 'Chocolate Peppermint' (my two favorites for nibbling "straight up" as well as for tea etc.) coming up right now, and I'd be delighted to stuff some into a BE (mints are tough) and send them your way. I should also have a few extra Verbena bonariensis seeds to include... love the name mentioned in PF, "Verbena on a Stick!"
How about "Satori's Burrow" if she likes Harry Potter? She is gorgeous -- looks like a celtic princess!
If you chew chocolate mint and a little stevia together, it really does give you that Peppermint Pattie fix.
And don't forget nasturtiums!
Holy cow, why is that picture so big? Satori means peace, and yes she has the most lovely hair ever, i assure you it is not from me. LOL She has my eyes and her dad's hair (he doesn't appreciate it of course) her baby sister has her dad's eyes and my hair...
I love nasturtiums but they don't love our summer heat. Maybe where the playhouse would be ok, because it gets afternoon sun.
critterologist, Tori loves mint! She fancies herself somewhat of a potion maker and mint is her favorite ingredient. We have just plain spearmint and it does well here. Verbena on a stick sure is a fitting name, i had never heard that. I look at my flat every day and will it to come up. Does it take a loooong time to germinate?
I will get a packet of mints out to her next week -- I've got a post-it above the computer to remind me! Is your address in the exchange still current? I'll zap you a Dmail to LYK when they're on their way. :-)
I know I've wintersowed verbena bonariensis, but I don't recall if it was early or late to sprout....
Thanks Jill!
Yep, still at the same place. I think Jeremy and i moved 8 times from '94-'02. When we moved here i told my family, "You can write this address in pen."
Did those dahlias bloom for you last year?
Dahlias hate me. LOL. I had a couple of gorgeous blooms, but the plants were pretty sorry looking by the end of summer... Possibly they had too much shade from the banana plants or too much competition from the hot pink petunias (they were looking pretty jungle-like by the end of summer). I did manage to keep one clump of tubers in good condition over the winter, and I've potted it up to get it started. I have no idea which one it is, but I'm hoping it's your gorgeous pink one that survived!
I've sworn off acquiring any more dahlias until I can learn how to grow them right! Actually, I'm trying to really limit my "lift in fall" acquisitions... first I started with the amaryllis, then last year I added some bananas by the deck, and then I went and ordered gladiolus corms and some tropical plants in two irresistable DG co-ops!
I wish I could include a couple of african violets with the mints, but I'm battling pests in my collection... so no AV plantlets probably until fall. :-( But perhaps something else might jump in with the mints.... we'll see what happens!
Okay!! Just got back in from taking pictures of my playhouse and garden... here we go..
Coming around the corner.. just found the metal art at Home Goods.. I love yard art.. Dh says its a great thing that I garden and am able to balance it with plants!! :)
This is the thornless lady banks rose I am growing up on three sides of the playset. I planted last year and it will eventually cover the entire roof and I will wind them around the wood holding the handle bars at the top.
It is obviously happy as new shoots are spreading and coming up.
:)
Okay.. this one is not blooming as I think I have the PH wrong.. I used some coffee grounds when I made the bed and they were too fresh!! However, I will grow this up the roof and over. Just lovely.. :) My heart jumped when I saw these roses at Home Depot last year.
Susan
So you think your looking at yard art? Look closer.. Those are all little tomato seedlings coming up on their own. I grow them and try to anchor them over the railing.. My kids sit in the bottom of the play set and eat grape tomatoes!! How cool is that!! Love it :)!! I get so many that I jsut can't keep them picked clean and they drop and give me more plants the following year. Last year I also planted basil grown from seed around the front of the bed. Probably will do same this year as well.. Not sure yet.
Susan
I don't have any clematis growing there yet, but think that would be great to interplant. :)
I have the clematis growing with a weeping pussy willow. That's all folks!! :)
Susan
Beautiful! I love it!
That is fabulous, Susan! Great job.
Susan, that is so nice. Your kids must have tons of fun! Thanks for the photos.
I love the dragonflies and the butterflies, they are so cool, i'll have to try and find some around here.
I bought a couple of roses at Home Depot this weekend. They aren't climbers so i'll have to find a space for them, but they were SO beautiful. I'll take a pic this evening.
This is the spot the playhouse will go. Right about where the trampoline is, under the cottonwood.
edited to add: Please excuse the mess the yard and trampoline are in, we had a birthday party in the morning and the older kids ripped the sides of the net down. Plus, looking at the picture i see juice boxes and cake plates all over the ground and a balloon stuck in the tree.LOL I guess i should have taken the picture AFTER i cleaned up.
The trampoline will be moved, but the play structure will stay right where it is. The playhouse will be tucked under the tree just a few feet from that fence.
This message was edited Apr 14, 2007 8:17 AM
These are the roses i bought at Home Depot.
This is a close up of one of the flowers. No photoshop the flowers are this outrageous!
WOW! I picked up a pink 'The Fairy' rose at a local discount store the other day (I think it was $3, couldn't possibly resist that)... have to figure out where to put it! Your HD pick is just stunning!
BTW, please know that I did try to "do right" by your lovely dahlias that you shared with me.... I'm just having trouble figuring out where they'd be happy here. I've made a tiny raised bed behind one of the big rocks around my patio, and I think the surviving dahlia will go there, perhaps with some glads that shouldn't compete with it too much.
You might consider a Zepherine Drouhine climbing rose -- pink, lovely fragrance, and one of the toughest roses I've ever grown -- plus, it's virtually thornless. It'll even bloom where there's shade, such as on the north side of a house. I took some cuttings, but since the canes were so thin at their ends I don't have a lot of hope for them... we'll see!
Thanks yall! ooops.. I confused playhouse with playset, but of course you can plant around either! :) Zephirine Drouhin IS another excellent thornless climber. I love it. Mine is pictured here.. yesterdays blooms. :)
Lovely bloom from new HD rose!
The fairy is wonderful.. very easy to find here at Wal-mart last year and I love all the little blooms.
Also.... I may be very humled here.. The picture where I stated that I have new shoots of lady banks coming up?? Those may very well be weeds!!!!!!!!! oh well.. One can hope right!
Susan
